After recently writing a goofy post about imaginary pot-food pairings, I received an email from the pseudonymous William Breathes, one of two medical marijuana critics for our sister paper Westword, in Denver, Colorado. He expressed gratitude for being mentioned in the post and disappointment in not being invited to my pot soiree -- then added, for the record, that "Sour D goes well with rich, nutty red wines and stinky, aged crumbly cheese like asiago."

William is a 29-year-old grad student with an undergraduate degree in journalism from Metropolitan State College of Denver. He is a medical marijuana patient due to ongoing hospitalizations from nausea and stomach pain, but freely admits to smoking pot recreationally as well. In the blog, called Mile Highs and Lows, Breathes, along with cohort The Wildflower Seed, reviews marijuana dispensaries around Denver in informative and often humorous fashion. They bested over 300 entrants to become the nation's first pot critics, and as such William has been chronicled by everyone from BBC to The Daily Show -- and has even taken a bong hit on CNN We at Short Order were mostly interested in the connection between weed and feed.

New Times: You mentioned that wine-cheese match for Sour D. How did you determine that, and do you have other favorite pairings?

William Breathes: I just have found over time that certain strains go well with my dinner selections. Sour D goes well with red wine because of the fruity accents. Certain trainwreck variations go great with smoked seafood -- there's this buttery lemon taste to it that is great. Finally, a good skunk variety with a skunky beer is one of the most simple, yet pleasing pairings. Lemon Skunk with a Heineken, for example.

Any other beverages strike you as being especially marijuana-friendly?

Orange juice, there's nothing better.

Is there such a thing as people sitting down for dinner and matching a different weed with each course?

I haven't really heard of this, though there are lots of

dispensaries and chefs around town who are putting together

ganja-prepared servings. For example, Denver Relief recently put on a

6-course ganja meal, where everything was infused in some way. That's

not to say that it was all pot cookies, either. Everything from salad

dressing to ice cream can be made with ganja.

How does pairing food and pot differ from doing so with food and

wine? And when sampling pot without the food, would the equivalent of a

spit bucket be to not inhale?

I'm not really a food critic, so I can't answer that with any

authority -- but I have done a beer tasting before, and I find that

beer tasting and pot tasting are very similar. And while I did spit out